AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He laughs once, releasing me. Then he drops his head between his shoulders, his heavy sigh deflating his chest. “Ava, I need to tell you something, but I don’t want to. Especially now.”
I grasp his shoulder, force him to sit up so I can look at him. “What’s wrong?”
He turns to me, his eyes red, his nostrils flaring with his exhale. “Jesus, I don’t know how to say this.”
I say through the ache in my chest, “Just say it, Trevor. You’re scaring me.”
“We’re out of money, Ava. And I don’t know how to fix it.” He looks ahead, his gaze distant, while I try to settle my racing heart. “I tried to get a loan yesterday, and they denied it. I’ve already borrowed from Mr. Preston, but I can’t ask him again, and I lied to you before… I wasn’t on the phone with Amy. I was on the phone with Peter—”
“No!” I rush out. “Don’t ask him for money.”
“I have to.”
“No.” I stand. Pace. “I’ll get a job.”
“It won’t be enough.”
“I’ll quit school. We’re so close. I can still graduate.” Probably. “And I’ll be able to help out.”
“The money you’d make could possibly pay for Krystal, but then you may as well stay at home, and even then, we’re so far in the red…”
I wipe at the tears too quick to appear.
“I’m sorry, Ava,” he chokes. “I thought it would be enough, but—”
“Stop it!” I order, standing in front of him. “You’ve done more than…” My stomach twists, and I can’t breathe.
He looks up, tired, worried eyes on mine. “The changes in her insurance meant we had to pay more for her meds, and now that they’ve finally found the right—”
“I’ll call the doctors to come out on Monday. We’ll see what they say.”
Trevor nods. “But we still need help, and Peter—”
“No!”
“Why not?”
“Because!” Because with Peter, the debt becomes more than just financial. I calm myself down. “Because we can do this on our own. Just let me call the doctors and the insurance and just… just give me a few days before talking to him, okay? Promise me.”
“All right.”
“And don’t ever do this again.”
“Do what?”
“Carry this weight on your own. Don’t keep secrets from me.”
He nods. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do enough.”
I sit next to him again, wrap my arms around the solid wall of dependency I’ve taken for granted. “Don’t be sorry, Trevor. Ever.”
I just need time, I tell myself again, and everything will fall into place.
CONNOR
The world is bright orange as the sun begins to set, and it reminds me of the balloons on my porch, of Ava. I wish I were there instead of standing on the sidewalk, leaning against a streetlamp as I look across the road and into the large windows of the chain restaurant at close to 8 p.m.
She’s still there, my mother, waiting for me. Occasionally, she’ll check the time and look at the doors, expecting me to appear.
